


Let Me Play Savior.

by theatergirl06



Series: We Save Each Other Over and Over [3]
Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:56:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23941171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theatergirl06/pseuds/theatergirl06
Summary: Anna of Cleves wants to understand her girlfriend's terrifying past. But she never expected it to happen like this.
Relationships: Anne of Cleves/Katherine Howard
Series: We Save Each Other Over and Over [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1723069
Comments: 5
Kudos: 61





	Let Me Play Savior.

**Author's Note:**

> TW: Attempted rape, drugging, flashing lights, darkness, blurred vision, dizziness, being pinned down.

As much as Anna tried to help her girlfriend, she couldn’t truly understand her.

What did it feel like to have men staring at you, men who wouldn’t take no for an answer, men who put their hands all over you?   
Anna wasn’t stupid enough to wish that on herself. Kat had gone through so much pain because of it, and she would be furious and worried if she found out Anna was wishing herself any sort of pain, but still, sometimes a man would come to close to Kat, pin her up against a wall, put his hands all over her, and Anna would do her absolute best to help, but how much could she really do if she never understood? Just like when she was feeling broken about how she looked, Kat was great at helping her (if she was stupid enough to show Kat that she was even feeling broken at all), but Anna was sometimes left feeling empty after the beheaded queen left. Kat loved her, but how much could she really understand her? Kat had never felt insecure about her looks in her life. She’d never once looked in a mirror and thought she was ugly. She’d never had people yelling at her about how she shouldn’t be in the spotlight because of how she looked. 

Likewise, Anna would never know that feeling of being pinned against the wall, of feeling trapped in someone’s arms, of hands crawling all over her body.

Or so she thought. 

It was a Sunday night at the pub, which seemed to be where everything important started. All the queens were there, which was actually quite rare. Jane and Cathy were sitting in a booth next to the door, chatting about that television show they’d been watching, probably. Kat was in another booth at the other end of the pub, reading one of the books that Cathy had leant her a while ago. It was a murder mystery set in old fashioned London, and she hadn’t put it down since Cathy had given it to her. 

Out on the dance floor, there was Anne, trying to get Catherine to let loose and do crazy ass dances out in the middle of the huge crowd of people. 

Anna loved dancing, but she wasn’t one for crazy dances and chaos. She liked to dance her heart out, she may have even said she liked dancing more than she liked singing. Dancing meant a lot to her. It was her way of self-expression, her way of letting out everything she didn’t tell the other queens. It meant as much to her as music meant to Kat, and Kat always had music on her mind. 

But part of the reason she loved dancing so much was that it was for her and those she chose to let see. Goofy dances put her right into the spotlight. Anna liked the spotlight when she was onstage, but that was pretty much it. Even when it was just her and the other queens, she didn’t like to be the center of attention. It wasn’t because she was insecure, it just wasn’t really her thing. She got to own the stage eight times a week, and that was enough for her. She didn’t need drama and goofy dances and drunk people staring at her. 

She supposed those were two conflicting wishes. She wanted to understand Kat, but that required being stared at, and she didn’t want that either. 

That was the problem with thinking so many deep thoughts. Of course Anna wasn’t stupid, but thinking about what she really wanted or didn’t want, especially on a Sunday night in the pub, made her head hurt. 

She turned to the bartender. “I’d like one of those German beers you have on special, please.”

The bartender smiled at her. “Coming right up.”

That was when she noticed this wasn’t the same bartender the queens were used to. She was a young woman, and Kat was quite friendly with her. 

“New on the job?”

The bartender cocked his head at her. “Yeah, good eye. I’m just here for a few weeks or so, helping my cousin make some extra cash. That’s him down there.” He pointed to a man down at the other end of the bar. The man looked up and gave her a wave.   
Was that a glint in his eyes? Odd.

She gave the bartender a smile. “Well, welcome to London, then.”

The bartender smiled back. “You’re pretty.”   
Anna shuffled awkwardly in her seat. “Uh...thanks?”

The man leaned forward on his hands, so far forward that she had to lean back to keep his face from touching her own. “But I mean  _ really  _ pretty.”   
Anna jerked sideways in her seat, trying her absolute best to avoid him. “Uh...can I have that beer now, please?”

The man gave her a wink. “Sure thing, love.”

Anna ignored the tremors of fear that ran through her body. This sort of thing never happened to her. She must be imagining it. Right?

Okay, she  _ definitely  _ hadn’t imagined that. 

“Excuse me, did you put something in that drink?”

The bartender turned to her, eyes wide and confused. “What? No! Why would you ever think I did that?”

Anna felt the fear melt out of her. Why was she being so jumpy? This was just a normal bartender who was a little too flirty for his own good. That was  _ all.  _ She needed to calm down. 

“Sorry, I’m just feeling odd tonight.”

The bartender smiled. “I completely understand. Would you like me to fix you another beer?”

Anna grinned with relief. “That would be wonderful. Thank you.”

As the bartender mixed the second beer, his cousin slid down into the stool next to her from the other end of the bar. 

“Hello.” 

Anna smiled at him, a little uncomfortably. “Hey.”

“Nice night, isn’t it.”

“Pretty ordinary, if I’m being completely honest.”

“Really? I think the sky looks beautiful tonight.”

She stared out the window, trying to see what was so pretty. 

“It almost looks as beautiful as you.”

Anna froze, all the fear rushing back into her body. She wasn’t imagining this, and she wasn’t overreacting.    
“I’m going to ask you, just once, to get away from me.”

The man leaned forward, and just like before, she had to bend over backwards just to get away from him.

“But if I go away, you don’t get to have me.”

Anna had to use her hands to push him off of her. “I don’t want to have you, okay?”

The man looked pissed off. “Fine then, if you want to be a bitch.”

There was awkward silence between them.

The bartender spun around and placed a beer in front of her. “Here’s your beer. German, right?”

Anna smiled, glad that the awkwardness was over. She tipped the beer backwards and took one long gulp. 

Instantly, she knew something was wrong. Her vision blurred. Her head spun. Or maybe it was the room. Or both. 

Through rapidly fading vision, she turned and looked at the bartender.

He was smiling at her. But it wasn’t the same innocent smile he’d given her earlier that night. This one looked like a wolf, hunting its prey.

A predator. 

He hit a button on the edge of the bar. The pub lights dimmed, and bright neon lights started flashing, making Anna’s head pound with pain. 

“IT’S BLACKOUT TIME!!!”

The people on the dance floor cheered. Anna felt her body go limp and tip backwards. She felt arms circle around her waist.

She didn’t have the strength to scream. The pub had gone dark. No one could see her. 

And then the world disappeared. 

When she felt her mind returning, she wasn’t in the pub anymore. Her head was pounding and her body seemed unable to move. She was barely even awake, but she could register that she was lying on a thin mattress on the floor of a room. The room was small and made entirely of cement. There was pounding on the ceiling above her, which didn’t help.

God, being able to move would be nice right now. But whatever that bartender had slipped in her drink hadn’t worn off yet, and there was nothing she could do about it. 

She must be in the basement of the pub. That explained the pounding. 

The door opened, and the bartender and his cousin walked in. 

They looked down at her with wolflike grins. She would have shuddered if she’d been able to move. 

“Well, look who doesn’t want to have me now.”

She was relieved to find that she could speak. “I still don’t.”

The bartender sat down on the mattress at her feet. His hands slid up the inside of her legs. “Well, right now, it looks like you don’t have a choice.”

And suddenly they were all over her, her legs, her arms, kissing her face, biting her shoulders, pinning her and twisting her and crawling up the insides of her thighs all at once. 

Despite the fact that she was alive, it felt like she was dying all over again. Like her very soul was being sucked from her body. 

Her head pounded. She tried to scream, but somewhere, one of their hands had found its way over her mouth.

The hands crawled even higher.

Did her body even belong to her anymore?

Suddenly, there was a thud in the doorway. The men spun, but kept their hands on her, pinning her down.

Kat was standing in the doorway, looking panicked, a phone in one hand and a wine bottle in the other. 

“Don’t touch her!”

“Who the fuck are you?”

Anna could see Kat shaking. “I’m no one.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Let my girlfriend go!”

“And why would I do that?”

“Because I’ve got pictures of you two with your hands all over her, and anyone with half a brain can see what you’re doing.” She took a step forward. “Now you get away from her, and you leave this city. I never want to see either of you again.” 

In a flash of motion, the bartender placed his hand over Anna’s throat. She felt him beginning to squeeze. 

Kat didn’t even hesitate. Through her blurry vision, Anna saw her sprint forward and smashed the wine bottle over his head. The bartender crumpled to the floor.

His cousin stared at them both, then grabbed the bartender and sprinted out of the room.

Kat dropped to the floor the second the door shut. “Oh God, Anna, are you alright? Did they hurt you?”

Anna felt the feeling returning to her body. She slowly began to push herself up, and she felt Kat’s arms on her back, guiding her until she was sitting up and Kat had her in her arms. For a moment, she forgot everything that had just happened, just floated in the feeling of being in Kat’s embrace. It was the absolute opposite of everything that had happened that night. It was safe.

“He put something in my drink. That’s how he got me in here.”

Kat groaned and slumped against the wall. “Of  _ course.  _ I’m an idiot, I should have noticed sooner.”

Anna twined her fingers around Kat’s. Her hands were soft. “No, Kat, you’re not an idiot. It’s lucky you came when you did.” She cocked her head. “How did you find me, anyway?”

Kat’s face turned a light shade of pink. “After the blackout, I noticed you were gone. I asked the bartender where you were. He acted a little odd, so I followed him down here. The second I saw what was happening, I grabbed my phone and a wine bottle, and well, yeah.”

Anna grinned. “That’s quite the story.”

“I guess. Are you sure you’re alright?”

“No. That was...a lot. And I’m gonna remember it for a long time. But they didn’t really hurt me. It never got that far.” Anna smiled. “That’s because of you.”

Kat squeezed her hand. “I was only doing what I thought was right.”

“Maybe, but remember that time a couple of weeks ago when you talked about feeling guilty for the times when I’ve helped you out?”

“You’ve saved me. A lot. You can say it.”

“Yeah, well this is at least as bad if not worse than all those things. I really don’t care, but for what it’s worth,” Anna looked into her girlfriend’s eyes, “consider us even.”

“We don’t have to be even.”

“Face it, Kat. You’re my hero.”

Kat smiled and rested her head on her shoulder. 

“You’re mine, too.”

“Do I get to be all dramatic about it for the night?”

“I’d think something was seriously wrong.”

Anna laughed, but deeper thoughts were running through her head.

Kat had been there tonight when Anna needed her the most. She didn’t think of herself as a hero, but Anna certainly did. 

“You’re braver than you think, you know.”

“I really was only trying to help you.”

“If you’re going to save me whenever I get myself in trouble, you’re going to be one busy queen.” 

Kat laughed, the echoes ringing through the room.

Anna squeezed her fingers, glad to be able to be with her, even after everything that had happened that night. Maybe Kat was the only thing keeping her from recalling the painful truth of everything that had just happened. Maybe she just loved her a whole lot. Probably both. 

She held her hand tightly, and she didn’t let go. 


End file.
